Flor María

The members of 4 de Agosto Communal Bank meet every two weeks in the Andrés de Vera parish in the city of Portoviejo, known for many years as the Ciudad de los Reales Tamarindos [City of the Royal Tamarind Trees].

Here we met Flor. She is 39 years old and married, and from this relationship has two children, ages 18 and 12. Both are studying, in high school and the university, and still live with her. Her husband works in a hotel.

She learned beauty and personal care in a school in this city. With the few resources she had, and taking advantage of her knowledge of beauty and personal care, several years ago she set up a beauty salon in her house, where she does a variety of jobs such as dyes, haircuts, and nail painting, among other things. She works every day from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., and sometimes until later if her customers need her services. She also sells beauty products, for which she has some display cases. She has been doing this work for more than 14 years and it is going very well for her.

She is going to use this loan to buy dyes, perms, and some work tools. This is her third loan cycle with the communal bank and she likes it because of the help and the profits she receives from the bank.